Presently when human and animal ligaments and tendons are injured; or bones are broken, and need to be immobilized in order to heal, quick-setting plaster of Paris plaster has been one method prescribed. It is excellent at immobilizing a joint and can be inexpensive, but use of a plaster cast is not without limitations. The first is that the prescribing doctor must wait for any swelling to subside prior to its application. Then once in place, it must be removed with a medical saw, destroying it. The skin underneath cannot be accessed during this period. Further, a plaster cast can frequently be inappropriate or impossible for certain fractures, such as a broken toe or a broken bone within a hand.
When the ligaments and tendons attached to a joint are acutely injured and the surrounding joint needs to be immobilized, often the proscribed method of treatment has been to wrap the afflicted joint with cloth or to encase it in plastic encasements. The limbs movement can be unnecessarily restricted from movement but if limited movement is allowed, an unexpected blow or movement can re-injure the afflicted area.
Ligaments and tendons can be chronically inflamed, strained, or otherwise irritated. A person can wear a brace or protective covering to protect the affected area. In one such example, a knee brace can include a pair of straight members adjoined together with a hinge, wherein the hinge permits the knee to bend in a permissible range and in a permissible direction. One embodiment of a protective covering can be constructed of elastic material and can provide a mild constrictive force to isolate or support the body member underneath.
Sporting activities can include impacts or collisions. Athletes push their bodies to various limits, and strain to joints are common. Various forms of protective gear are known to protect an athlete's body from injury. Such protective gear is frequently bulky and restrictive to the athlete's movement or ineffective to protect the athlete from injury.
Animals are subject to injury. Horses riding in rough country can be injured by impacts on sharp underbrush. Dogs used in hunting can come into contact with barbed wire or thickets, or the dogs can come into conflict with the hunted game. Animals frequently have difficulty with conventional casts used to treat injuries such as broken bones.